Department of TheatreTheatre Master's Thesis Collection | Faculty Publications and Researchhttp://hdl.handle.net/10211.2/8622019-03-21T17:47:13Z2019-03-21T17:47:13ZUnderneath her skirt: staging Samuel Beckett's Happy Days as an embodiment of Betty Friedan's The Feminine MystiqueWanless, Cheryl Lynnhttp://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/1215452018-01-10T19:26:43Z2014-06-13T00:00:00ZUnderneath her skirt: staging Samuel Beckett's Happy Days as an embodiment of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique
Wanless, Cheryl Lynn
This graduate project explores the struggle of Winnie in Samuel Beckett's 1960 play Happy Days through the lens of Betty Friedan's 1963 book The Feminine Mystique. Both works feature women, housewives in particular, who are physically and metaphorically trapped. By studying contemporary literature by feminist authors, including Debora L. Spar, Sheryl Sandberg, and Naomi Wolf, I explore how the societal pressures faced by Winnie and the women presented by Betty Friedan continue to entrap and inhibit both working women and housewives today. As the advertisements of the 1950s and 1960s glorified the domesticated housewife role, contemporary works will be explored in this project as well, such as director Jennifer Siebel-Newsom's 2011 documentary Miss-Representation, which shows how heavily the media continues to influence women with sexist images. By leading women to micromanage themselves, obsess over household issues such as cleaning and fixating on their looks, oppressive media images steer women away from pursuing independent careers, positions of power, and hobbies which are imperative for self-fulfillment. Winnie remains encased within the confines of the feminine mystique as it takes on the form of a mound. While the women Friedan discusses and interviews speak of an identity crisis and a feeling of nonexistence, Winnie actually embodies it. I will create my own version of the mound from Happy Days by using articles Friedan references within her book, fashion images, household appliances, cleaning supplies, style, and advertisements of the late 1950s and early 1960s eras. I will research seven versions of the mound for reference.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 88-94)
2014-06-13T00:00:00ZTransculturating cultural memory in Native American performanceArmstrong, Neda Maehttp://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/1212152018-01-10T19:26:43Z2014-06-03T00:00:00ZTransculturating cultural memory in Native American performance
Armstrong, Neda Mae
Theatre practitioner and scholar, Eugenio Barba has spent much of his professional life questioning what is known and asking what is unknown. His instinct to look beyond his cultural norms propelled him and his students to obtain knowledge of other methods and practices; discoveries that would lead to the term, theatre anthropology. Utilizing aspects of Barba's theatre anthropology to examine transculturation of cultural memory in Native American performance, discovery of how performance has changed and evolved among Navajo Indians is analyzed. Barba's research provides a framework that enables analysis of Native American performance, and the effect of transculturation - melding methods and practices not familiar to Native culture. In his book, The Paper Canoe, Barba explains, "Historical understanding of theatre and dance is often blocked or rendered superficial because of neglect of the logic of the creative process, because of misunderstandings of the performer's empirical way of thinking, and because of an inability to overcome the confines established for the spectator" (11). This thesis observes and analyzes performance of cultural memory of primarily Navajo performers. This thesis charts the changing methods and techniques that that have enabled more Navajo individuals to perform their stories, and have enabled spectators - Native and non-Native - to experience the stories, dances, songs, crafts and arts by artists who are expressing their unique selves.
In the first chapter, the ritual ceremony, Male Shooting Way, is analyzed; in the second chapter, poet Laura Tohe's writings and performances are analyzed; in the third chapter, inter-tribal events in the Southwest are researched and analyzed through attendance and participation. The journey of this thesis begins with a holy ceremony, expands slightly to an artist's work inside and outside her Native community and concludes with an analysis of Native performance taken to a larger and commercialized scale; a journey from the micro to the macro: starting small and intimate, evolving to connect with others and concluding with a look at today's multi-cultural performance practices that draw spectators and performers of diverse backgrounds and experiences.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 74-77)
2014-06-03T00:00:00ZDefying the post-racial in contemporary American commercial theatreNeel, Erinhttp://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/1211662018-01-10T19:26:42Z2014-06-03T00:00:00ZDefying the post-racial in contemporary American commercial theatre
Neel, Erin
As American society purports to no longer see race, efforts are made for a public colorblindness that often cements the inequality that an ideology of post-racialism would seek to dismantle. This thesis examines how commercial American theatre intervenes in this ideology to prove the persistence of racial animosity and tension in the United States. To conduct this investigation, an analysis of four key plays will be undertaken: David Mamet's Race, Bruce Norris's Clybourne Park, Ayad Akhtar's Disgraced and Tracey Scott Wilson's Buzzer. Among the most produced, celebrated and awarded plays on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional theatres nationwide, the efficacy of these works waxes and wanes. Sometimes hegemonic, often incisive and consistently entertaining, this thesis interrogates how the contemporary American theatrical canon as exemplified by these works approaches race.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 96-101)
2014-06-03T00:00:00ZRainbow of desire: a bridge from the virtual to the real worldHull-Swift, Janehttp://hdl.handle.net/10211.2/33342018-01-10T19:26:42Z2013-06-17T00:00:00ZRainbow of desire: a bridge from the virtual to the real world
Hull-Swift, Jane
The benefits and pitfalls of video gaming and online gaming-specifically MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games), have generated multiple academic studies over the last two decades, many of which suggest that a growing percentage of the population is becoming addicted to gaming. Even though excessive and problematic online gaming has not been officially classified as an addiction in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), there are those in the mental health field that view this behavior as a significant health risk (Barry 2002, Billieux, et al 2013, Griffiths 2005/2008, Han, et al 2010, Ming & Peng 2009, Sim, et al 2012, Stetina, et al 2011, Wiemer-Hastings 2005, Wood 2004, Young 2007/2009). Consequently, there are numerous video game addiction treatment and recovery centers around the world that provide behavioral therapy and a mental health approach to this disorder. One alternative therapeutic component that has not been widely utilized thus far - at least not found to be widely utilized as of this writing - is the use of theatre games, exercises, and theatrical techniques as a supplementary component to current online gaming addiction recovery programs. With the intention of providing a viable supplementary component, this thesis will explore the oppressive aspects of excessive and problematic online gaming and utilize the theory and praxis of Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed-specifically the Rainbow of Desire techniques-as a theoretical framework to illustrate the feasibility of applying Boal's techniques to oppressive online gaming scenarios. Ideally, this will provide the foundation for future fieldwork.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 94-99)
2013-06-17T00:00:00Z